Making it Easy
by takethefirewhiskyandrun
Summary: Effie has never been happier – It's taken over three years, but she and Sirius are finally together. But Effie's not used to being happy - she's used to drama, worry and over-thinking things. So, when he does something that upsets her, she's sure that's the end of their happiness. But Sirius isn't letting her give up on them that easy. One-shot fluff based on Bottle-Specs.


_A/N: Someone was looking for a little Effie/Sirius fluff based on Bottle-Specs and even though I'm absolutely in love with writing my new OC in 'You'd go out with Remus Lupin, right?' I missed Effie a bit and thought I'd write a little one-shot. I must warn you that writing straight fluff isn't always my strongest skill because I find build-up more romantic, so it wont be all sunshine and roses, but I hope there will still be a few 'aw' moments. So, if I haven't totally put you off haha – enjoy._

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Making it Easy

I couldn't remember the last time I'd slept longer than two hours. Last night had only been forty-five minutes because I had been out late reporting on a worrying Muggle baiting incident when I'd been sent to Diagon Alley to investigate the attack on the ice cream shop. No one had been hurt, but the Aurors hadn't been up front with any of us and I'd had to badger them insistently until they finally released a statement at 5am. By the time I got home, there had been less than an hour until my alarm went off, but I still took the nap gladly. I was exhausted. Absolutely completely and totally obliterated with tiredness but I was seeing Sirius tonight and that was the _only _thing keeping me going. When my alarm went off, he'd been lying on my bed beside me, thumbing through one of my old copies of Witch Weekly - the one that had my embarrassing first attempt at a political cartoon.

It was the best and worst way to wake up because even though I only had a few moments to kiss him before getting ready for work, I'd still got to feel his arms tighten around me in the safest way you can imagine. I'd still had a few minutes to whine to him about how tired I was, and tell him just how _much_ I'd missed him. Even though, I didn't regret my decision from school, I still wished that we'd had more time to enjoy each other. I was impatient for what I hoped would be forever. All I could think of was how many years I'd lost not kissing his lips, or feeling his fingers fiddle with my hair, or laughing at his cheap jokes. But it didn't matter – I had him now, and even if I never got to leave my bloody desk at The Daily Prophet – that thought was enough to keep a dazed, half-smile on my face as I ignored my pressing articles and sketched out my latest comic strip.

It was inspired in part by him, except with a war twist. I couldn't do gushy romantic or idealistic drawings anymore; not when there were points I wanted to make, things that I wanted people to see. The strip was divided in three phases, charmed to move along with the action depicted – the first: a couple's eyes meeting across a crowded pub; the second: the couple laughing and kissing at one of the tables, and the third: the girl sitting alone and reading a tragic newspaper headline with her love's face pictured underneath it.

Morbid, I know. But it was what I thought about constantly: Him going away on those dangerous missions for Dumbledore's secret society and not being in contact for several days at a time. It was terrifying especially since Sirius wasn't nearly as cautious as Marlene or Benjy. At least they always made sure to let me know exactly when they were due back, even if they couldn't tell me exactly where they were going and what they were doing. If Benjy had been on the trip with her, Marlene's first stop after her family home was always my flat and we'd spend a relieved ten minutes just hugging. But Sirius was more reckless and arrogant than she was – he waved me off whenever I asked him when he expected to return and just kissed me and said, "I'll come back to you, Effie – I promise."

He hadn't broken a promise yet, but I still worried. At least I knew he was back now – he'd been away all weekend. He stopped by my place to tell me, "I told you so," before walking me to work and then apparating off to James and Lily's place. He and his friends were spending the afternoon together, but we were meeting up for dinner after I got off work. I would have liked to see the others, but they were fully booked for the evening and I suspected that Sirius might have told them we needed alone time – which we did, desperately. Again, I truly have no clue how I survived all those years not kissing him. Bertie Hobblesworth had been a good kisser, but as nice and good as he'd been to me when we went out, he couldn't hold a candle to Sirius. And truth be told, no matter how weak my knees had been when Regulus had kissed me in secret way back when, even those memories couldn't compare. It was always _more_ than a kiss when it came to Sirius, and not in a mind-in-the-gutter type way. He put whole speeches, thoughts and hopes in to his kisses - he gave me all of him.

"Um Bot– Effie?"

I looked up from my drawing and saw Wendelin Warcroft standing in the doorway looking awkward. I fought not to roll my eyes at her for accidentally on purpose almost calling me my awful old nickname from school, Bottle-Specs. She was still stuck in the past and I felt sorry for her.

"What's up Wendelin?"

"Miss Flacco wants to see you."

"Oh okay. Can you tell her I'll be right there please?"

Wendelin nodded and turned away but then stopped in the doorway. I watched with a quirked eyebrow, as she seemed to wrestle with her own thoughts before turning around again.

"Are you seeing Sirius Black tonight?"

Very stuck in the past.

"I am."

"How is he? I haven't talked to him in weeks," she said lightly and I sighed lowly. She hadn't spoken to him since Hogwarts; I don't know why she thought I would believe that. I was neither as gullible nor as insecure as I'd been at school. If she wanted to invent up a relationship with my boyfriend, I wouldn't let it bother me.

"He's well, thanks. I'll tell him you say hello."

She bit her lip and I stared at her with an edge of impatience.

"Can you please tell Miss Flacco that I'm just finishing something up?"

She nodded and a scowl stretched across her beautiful features before she left the room, and I giggled to myself. Oh, it felt wonderful telling Wendelin what to do! Maybe the payback was small, but it gave me a little rush I'd never been used to growing up. After finishing outlining the pencil sketch with ink on my cartoon, I picked it up along with my half finished reports and headed off to my editor's office. Wendelin was filing her nails at her desk in front of the open door and she ignored me as I passed her and poked my head into the office, smiling at my boss.

"Effie darling! Come right in! Coffee, tea, anything?"

I shook my head. "I've had six cups already, I might accidentally fall out of an open window if I have any more caffeine."

Flacco laughed and then shouted through the door. "Warcroft! Fetch me a cuppa!"

"Yes, Miss Flacco," I heard Wendelin say tiredly.

"Now what does my star reporter have for me?" She said to me with a big grin.

"The report on the attack on Fortescue's place is almost done," I said, handing over my brief. "And I'm half-way through the Muggle baiting piece, but it's a quick one – so I'll have it done before I leave. And the comic just needs colouring and that'll be ready to print tomorrow, no problem."

"Any text on that?"

I pushed the parchment across the table to her. "Just the headline on the newspaper in the last frame. But maybe you could have a copy editor proofread it in case it's misleading or something."

Flacco put on her red reading glasses and peered down at the page before letting out a strained sigh.

"Ouch Savage."

I shrugged. "It happens all the time. When my friend Jasper was killed, his girlfriend only found out through the paper because the rest of us were too inconsolable to remember he'd been dating someone."

I looked at the table feeling the usual pang for Jasper and she winced.

"Oh I know...but it hits you right in the heart – it's so _hope_less. Don't you usually do funny ones?"

"Sometimes change is necessary."

She stared at me for a long while and finally nodded. "All right, but I want some snarky, Death Eater shaming in the next one!"

I laughed. "You have my word."

"Seeing that fella of yours tonight? Merlin he is atrociously handsome, isn't he?"

"Yeah, I know. It's very annoying really," I smiled.

She chuckled and looked down at my almost finished articles. After a moment, she slapped a hand over them and pushed only my drawing back to me. "If you can handle finishing the cartoon, I'll get Davies to wrap up the rest of your articles. You deserve an afternoon off."

I stared at her in shock, my tired mouth dropping open. I hadn't had an afternoon off in months.

"Really?"

"Yes!" she insisted standing up. "If I had a boyfriend as handsome as yours I'd never leave our bed! Get going!"

I broke into a huge grin and threw my arms around her laughing as she patted my back.

"But you'll owe Davies. I think he's been trying to avoid writing that boring PR piece for The Ministry. You can do that one tomorrow right? It's not urgent."

I nodded. I would gladly take on extra work if it meant I could see Sirius with his friends. He was always trying to get me to come to their gatherings, and though I wanted to, I always seemed to be working when they had one. Maybe James planned it that way on purpose - we'd never had a chance to properly get to know each other and I still didn't think he was my biggest fan. It was important to Sirius that we get along, so I would keep trying until James at least considered me more than an acquaintance. Even though Sirius said he already did, I still doubted it.

I stopped at home to change my clothes and put some potion in my hair so that it wasn't subject to the afternoon frizz and then put on some red lipstick even though Sirius had once said that the natural colour of my lips was his favourite colour in the world. It was kind of a bizarre compliment, in truth.

I set off towards The Leaky feeling excited about seeing James, Peter and Remus. Sirius sometimes said that Remus had been acting dodgy, but I couldn't believe that was true, Remus had always seemed so trustworthy. I wished that Lily was there too but I knew that since she was pregnant, she was being extra careful about where she went these days. After all, Jasper's death had proved that Diagon Alley was no longer safe.

The Leaky was fairly empty because it was that odd hour between when lunch ended and dinner began, so it was very easy to find the Marauders because they were taking up one of the larger booths and making the most noise in the entire place. Typical. A couple of old wizards at the bar grumbled to themselves as the four boys let out loud gales of laughter. The barman grinned toothlessly and then nodded to me as I walked towards their booth. Sirius had his back to me and was telling some, obviously engaging, story that the other three were wrapped up in. He jumped to his feet, slammed his fists down on the table and then pretended to duck and dodge some invisible enemy, as he stumbled out from the booth into the aisle and made the boys laugh. Remus spotted me first and raised an arm to wave, and as I waved back, Sirius whirled around, tripping a bit before he broke into a grin that went from one ear to another. I couldn't help but beam back – even with, what were obviously several drinks in him; even with his hair tousled and messy, he was still easily the most exquisite boy I had ever laid my eyes on. And that smile – the one that was just for me – made my heart race.

"Effie!" he called, taking a few steps towards me. "You're here!"

"I am!" I grinned, giggling as he rushed forward and threw his arms tightly around my middle lifting me off the ground and squeezing. I laughed and slapped his shoulder lightly in protest, and he let me slip down in his arms so my face was level with his. He stared intensely into my eyes for a moment before he kissed me enthusiastically on the mouth. My chest panged and my stomach jumped as I blushed before he set me back on my feet, leaned back a little to look at me, and pushed the hair off my eyes.

"Hello gorgeous," he murmured and dipped back down to kiss me again softly. When we separated, I couldn't stop my smile and laughed nervously as he threw his arm around me and moved so I could see the rest of the boys sitting in the booth. They all mimed puking in unison, but they were grinning too.

"All right Effie?" Peter smiled.

"Good to see you," James nodded with an easy smile of his own. About the best I could have hoped for, really.

"We thought we weren't seeing you today!" said Remus as I slid into the booth and Sirius sat beside me, throwing his arm around my shoulders once more.

"My editor let me off early for a change!" I said. "It's lovely to see you all."

"What're you drinking, love?" Sirius said, his words slurring a little.

I glanced at the time. It was just past four, still way too early for me.

"Just a butterbeer, please," I replied and he nodded before jumping up and springing over to the bar to order for me.

"Lily and I had a laugh at your cartoon this morning," James smiled. "I mean you joked about it, but I wouldn't be surprised if one or two Death Eater pricks named their spawn after him."

"What was it?" Peter asked.

"A registered list of baby names that all started with You-Know-Who. So, You-Know-Who Rowle, You-Know-Who Malfoy, etc," James explained.

"Yeah, I thought the name might have a spike amongst the pureblood community," I nodded. "At least the stupid ones."

Sirius had returned with my butterbeer and nodded. "You-Know-Who Potter – nice ring to it."

"What've you got for us tomorrow?" Remus asked, leaning forward eagerly.

"Oh – not a funny one, tomorrow. I was all stressed about this one not coming back and things got morbid." I shrugged and titled my head towards Sirius.

James and Peter chuckled softly and Remus twisted the side of his mouth up, but Sirius rolled his eyes.

"You worry too much Eff – I've told you that, haven't I?"

I nodded and took a sip of my butterbeer. "Once or twice."

He grinned and continued to look at me in that terrible but wonderful way that made me feel exposed. I felt the blush run to my cheeks and he tucked a piece of hair behind my ear and kissed my cheek.

"Honestly," he said turning to the lads and pulling me close to him. "Have you ever seen anyone more gorgeous than my girlfriend?"

"Sirius!" I groaned, hiding my face.

James laughed. "Hang on – are you going out with her? I'd never have guessed."

Remus and Peter laughed and Sirius rolled his eyes.

"You're using my jokes against me," he said to James before turning to whisper in my ear. "I know I've said it a thousand times, but you've got to stop looking at me like that –your eyes aren't fair," he muttered quietly, playing with one of my curls. Even if he'd only meant for me to hear it, his friends had obviously heard too and they all had slightly disgusted grimaces on their faces. I couldn't blame them. Sirius didn't normally go on like this – he knew how much it embarrassed me.

"I am going to kill you! Stop it right now," I moaned.

His mouth twisted into a smile but he nodded and downed the remainder of his drink.

"Yes, this is alarmingly disgusting – even for you, Sirius," Remus laughed. "Maybe you've had enough to drink."

Sirius stuck two fingers up at Remus and nodded to his friends. "Anyone else?"

They shook their heads and he made a face as he went back to the bar to fill up his glass. I watched as he accidentally bumped into one of the old men and laughingly slapped his back in apology.

"Is he okay? It's awfully early for him to be this wrecked," I muttered, watching as he chuckled with the barman and got his refill.

"He hasn't stopped," James shrugged. "He woke Lily and I up at seven thirty after he walked you to work this morning and made me take a celebratory shot with him. He's just kept going ever since – nutter," he added affectionately.

I nodded and sipped my butterbeer before pushing it away from me. I felt a bit ill.

"Was it an awfully dangerous mission?" I asked quietly.

"What? The one Sirius was on?" Remus asked, raising an eyebrow. "Not really. Dorcas was with him and she's pretty terrifying lately. Even Death Eaters run the other way when she's around."

"Yeah, don't worry Effie," Peter said. "The drinking has nothing to do with the mission – Sirius is just like this."

James and Remus laughed and I forced a smile as Sirius returned, falling against me a little and sloshing the drink over the edge of his glass.

"You not drinking that?" he asked, nodding at my abandoned butterbeer.

I shook my head. "Not really in the mood."

"D'you want something else? Pumpjin kuice?"

James laughed and Sirius grinned, shaking his head like a dog.

"Sorry Pumpkin juice," he clarified, sounding out the words carefully.

"No, I'm all right," I said and he smiled again, grabbing my hand under the table to link our fingers together.

James stretched and yawned. "I should probably get home. I've had enough – Lily's going to murder me."

"Doesn't she like you drinking?" I asked distractedly, feeling Sirius playing with my fingers gently.

James laughed. "Yeah right – she's jealous! She already has her first drink planned for once the baby's born. Gillywater with a twist."

"Oh," I said, frowning a little as Sirius nuzzled his head on my shoulder. I smelled a wave of firewhisky as he sighed, and felt my stomach drop a little.

"Anyway, best be off. You're all right, Padfoot?"

Sirius nodded, though his eyes were still closed as he rested his head on my shoulder.

"Perfect," he mumbled.

James laughed and threw a bunch of gold on the table. "This one's on me, mates. Pete – I've got to go by your place and pick up some of those muffins your mum makes. Lily made me swear to come back with them, or I'll be sleeping in the garden."

Peter laughed and stood up. "Yeah let's go, I could do with a nap myself. Hit the sauce a bit too early today, I reckon."

"I've got a meeting to get to as well," Remus said, joining them. "Sorry we didn't see more of you, Effie."

James nodded. "Yeah, Lily's cooking dinner for everyone this weekend – you should come."

James had never invited me anywhere before, so I smiled at the offer despite my increasing anxiety.

"If I don't have to work, I'll be there. Say hello to Lily for me, please."

"Definitely. She'll be disappointed she missed you," he replied, sticking his hands in his pockets. "Anyone got any floo powder?"

"Padfoot!" Remus said, flicking Sirius' ear. "Don't fall asleep."

"Piss off Moony," Sirius mumbled, wrapping his arms around my waist and hugging.

"Are you going to be all right getting him home?" Remus asked me as James and Peter mock-wrestled behind him.

I glanced down at my half-asleep boyfriend and felt another wave of nausea and déjà vu. Why did he have to get so drunk?

"Yeah, it'll be fine, thanks," I nodded stiffly as Sirius sat up and rubbed his eyes.

"See ya later mate," James said, ruffling Sirius' hair and the three of them waved goodbye and headed to the fireplaces to floo away.

Sirius groaned. "Ahh no…we were meant to have dinner. I was supposed to go by Lily's and have her make me a sobering solution first." He held his head in his hands and his elbow slipped and knocked over his drink so it spilled in my lap.

"Oh shit!" he said, jumping up and fiddling in his pockets for his wand.

"Never mind," I said quietly, standing up. "Let's just go."

"Where are we going?"

"Mine, I guess," I mumbled.

"I'm okay love, really," he said as he tried to hold my hand but missed. He chuckled and I smiled back grimly.

"Yeah, you seem great."

He hadn't heard because he was too busy calling goodbyes to the barman and the other drunken patrons so I had to wait outside the front door for him for five minutes before he emerged.

"Sorry," he said, sticking his hands in his pockets as we made our way down the street towards my flat.

I nodded and kept my eyes straight in front. Why? Why, why, why!

Five minutes later, we arrived at the steps to my building. Luckily it wasn't too far away since I'd chosen to live close to Diagon Alley to get to work quickly. Sirius was still stumbling a bit and his eyes were half closed. I'd lost count of how many times he'd said sorry already.

Once we were upstairs, he hurled himself straight to the bathroom and I heard him throwing up noisily. I had no hangover potion or sobering solution, so we would just have to deal with it the muggle way. Luckily, or perhaps not so luckily, I'd had plenty of practice growing up. I heard him brushing his teeth and I mixed up a glass of tomato juice with pepper and ginger and had it ready for him when he emerged.

"Are you okay?" I asked, linking my fingers with his and watching him with concern. He made a face at the glass in my hand.

"I'm not drinking that."

"It'll help with your headache later," I replied, forcing the glass into his hand. He stared at me, with his eyebrows furrowed, but nodded and downed the juice in one.

"Agh – disgusting!" he said, wiping his mouth off. I took the glass and handed him a bottle of water.

"You should take a nap. I've got work to do anyway."

"Effie, I'm so sorry – I didn't plan this," he pleaded, putting the bottle down on the kitchen counter and moving forward to grab my hands. His eyes were earnest, but even though he'd just brushed his teeth and drank tomato juice – he still smelled of whisky.

"It's okay. Just…sleep it off," I said firmly, pulling my hands free from his and heading to my table where I'd left my cartoon. I didn't look up even though I knew he was still watching, and sorted through my paintbrushes and inks getting ready to colour my drawings in. Eventually, I heard Sirius sigh and drag his way to the bedroom to sleep. Once I heard him collapse on my bed, I dropped my paintbrush, leaned against the backrest and let out a shaky breath.

This was just oh-so-typical of my life. I thought I was done with the drama and the complications - Sirius had once told me that it would be easy for us to be together if I just let it, but I couldn't. Not when he was blasted pretty much every time I saw him. Not when he'd made plans to get a sobering solution rather than just deciding not to get wasted before seeing me. And what could I do? Tell him that I was worried about how much he was drinking? How, even though he'd never said a mean word to me or even imagined hurting me, he reminded me of my dad when he drank? It was the way he didn't seem able to stop and how he spewed out empty apologies but never even thought about stopping.

If I told him how it made me feel, I was sure he'd just tell me to stop worrying. And I didn't want to nag either - that would put him off me, I knew it would. I'd had plenty of experience with people telling me I was uncool for not drinking much and Sirius was the definition of cool – he'd never want to give it up. It wasn't fair! He made me _so_ happy, but this was something I couldn't stand for. There was no way I wanted to end up like my mum - in love with someone who liked his drink more than her.

I would have to end it. We had our chance together, but it still didn't work out. I didn't want to spend months dragging out the inevitable, with him getting increasingly annoyed with my dislike of his lifestyle, or me getting more resentful of his refusal to stop. I would have to break up with him, even if it would crush me to do so.

I spent the next few hours in agony trying to decide what I would say to him and talking myself in and out of the notion. Wanting to keep busy, I spent the time finishing my cartoon and so, it had come out even darker and drearier than I'd intended. I also worked on Davies' article for the Ministry and just as I was sending them off with my work owl, I heard Sirius stir. I glanced at the clock - ten already. I heard Sirius get out of bed and cough loudly on his way to the bathroom and busied myself with sorting through some sketch ideas for the next cartoon. I could barely focus on what I was doing because my heart was pounding erratically and my eyes kept stinging with tears. Oh, why did I have to be sensible? Couldn't I just take what I got and be happy with it? I heard him walk into the room and stop behind me before I felt his chin rest on my shoulder. His breath smelled minty and the traces of alcohol finally seemed to have been covered, but I still felt a wave of nausea. This time it was because of what I would have to do – how I would have to give up the feel of his soft lips pressing against my cheek and the tickle of his words whispering against my hair.

"I'm sorry," he said into my ear.

I nodded and stood up, knocking into him accidentally as I kept my back to him and crossed the room to the sofa, pacing in front of the fireplace and wringing my hands together. When I finally looked at him, my heart sank again. Merlin, how was it possible to be that gorgeous? His hair was mussed up and the grey of his eyes shone, even though they were also slightly bloodshot. And his smile wasn't cocky like it sometimes was. It was one of his most genuine ones – one of my favourites – that made me want to believe every word that ever came out of his mouth.

"You're angry," he said, sticking his hands in his pockets.

I shook my head. "No."

"Effie."

I ran a hand through my hair, wincing as it got tangled in a knotted curl. I pulled it free and cleared my throat; trying to ignore the amused look Sirius gave me.

"Why don't you sit? We have to t-talk," I said, swallowing and blinking back what felt like tears.

He raised an eyebrow. "Uh-oh. That doesn't sound good."

The smile dropped off his face when I didn't chuckle and his brow furrowed before he sat down on the sofa opposite me and looked up expectantly – the picture of innocence.

Ugh. What did I say now? I'd never broken up with someone before. Bertie and I had just decided mutually that we weren't that suited for each other and Regulus had…well, 'ended things'. Of course, Sirius and I had our own history – I had, on more than one occasion, told him that we couldn't be together. I guess I would just have to be truthful and hope he wouldn't lose it.

"Sirius, you drink too much," I whispered, fiddling with my hands and pacing back and forth.

He sighed. "I know. I didn't want you to see me like that. I was just letting off steam after the mission."

I nodded and stared down at my feet, crossing one in front of the other before I stopped thinking that it might look like I needed the toilet. I looked up and he still had that look of concentration fixed upon my face.

"It's always though," I mumbled.

"What?"

"You never drink just to have one or two. You get wasted every time. And I can't deal with it, Sirius. I know it might be lame and uncool, but it scares me seeing you that way. And I can't ask you to stop – so I think, well, really, I _know_ that we have to break up." I said the last few words jumbled up together and as my heart fluttered painfully as his eyebrow lifted once more and his face froze.

"Effie…I–"

"I can't do it Sirius! I know you aren't like _him_. But I can't put myself through that – I can't be with someone who abuses alcohol. It will never work and it has to stop before it becomes even more difficult than it already is." I turned my back as the first tears slipped down my face and I roughly pushed them away. I _hated_ seeing his face fall like this – I hated feeling like this.

"Well, I'll stop then," he said and another sharp sob racked through me. I felt his warm hands run comfortingly over my arms and I shuddered under his gentle touch.

"Don't cry," he whispered. "It won't happen again."

"But how can I ask you to stop doing something you love? What will your friends say? James will say I'm trying to control your life," I mumbled, closing my eyes tightly as he turned me to face him.

"Hey," he said gently and I coughed back another cry. "Hey," he insisted, stroking the side of my face. My eyes opened and he wiped away my tears.

"James would never say that. No one would. None of us would ever call Lily controlling, and I know they would never say that about you either."

I bit my lip as he traced the tracks of my tears and I swallowed. "But how can you stop? You love drinking."

"Not more than I love you," he said firmly and I felt my breath catch. It was the first time he'd said it and it shocked me, even though part of me had always known. The corners of his mouth twitched up and he gave a little sigh.

"I would do anything – give up almost _anything_ for you. And honestly, it's hardly an unreasonable request."

"But why, why–"

He clicked his tongue. "Effie, it's _you._"

And then he smiled and I felt a warmth run through my chest.

Suddenly he laughed. "Were you really going to break up with me without even _asking _me to change first?"

I chuckled tearily. "I was scared that you wouldn't want to hear how I felt. I didn't think I could ask you to give up something without you thinking I wasn't worth it."

He let out a huff of exasperation. "You can tell me _anything_, you ridiculous, amazing, mad girl! You've always been worth much more than I can give, and all I do every day is try to think of ways to make sure I'm enough for you. I love you."

I blushed and he grinned.

"Look, I even give you James Potter-worthy speeches. Honestly, that was border-line painful."

I laughed and he hugged me, lifting me off the ground, whispering again that he loved me. He was right – I was ridiculous. This was Sirius – he had promised me once that he wasn't going to be confusing or unclear and he'd made every effort to keep that promise. He reminded me over and over again that I was enough and worth it – that he would do anything for me and honestly, it was time I started to trust that. And I would do anything for him too, because it was just that simple for us to be happy together.

"I love you too," I said. "Thank you for making it easy."

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_A/N: I hope that wasn't too cringy or anything! Very weird to write in Effie's voice again - it's been a while. I hope you enjoyed – please let me know what you thought! :)_


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